Washington Heights Apartment Fetches $8.6M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

New York—500 Fort Washington Ave., an apartment building in the Washington Heights neighborhood of northern Manhattan, has traded hands for $8.62 million. The property is a six-story, 55-unit apartment complex near Bennett Park and the “A” subway station at W. 181st St. and Fort Washington Ave.

500 Fort Washington includes 11 one-bedroom units, 35 two-bedroom units and nine three-bedroom units, as well as an office unit. The property also features a super’s unit in the basement, plus a courtyard and multiple entrances.

Trading at about $156,700 a unit, the property is somewhat more expensive than the recent average for Washington Heights, according to Ariel Properties, which brokered the sale on behalf of the seller. Ariel recently reported that for the six months ending in December 2012, the average price per unit for an apartment building in the neighborhood was $120,600.

“Buildings with significant upside [in northern Manhattan] are seeing tremendously low cap rates,” the report notes. “Many [are] going in the low- to mid-3 percent range.” All together, 50 buildings traded in Washington Heights from July to December last year, representing 1,780 units. Among the northern Manhattan markets Ariel tracks, it was the most active for investment sales during the second half of 2012, with Central Harlem a distance second with 35 buildings traded, representing 576 units.

Ariel Property Advisors’ Victor Sozio, Shimon Shkury, Michael Tortorici, and Jesse Deutch who worked on the deal, called the seller of 500 Fort Washington a “private investor.” Likewise, the buyer was also identified as private.